Hubbard County, MN Accident Highlights Dangers of Taking Eyes off of the Road While Driving
A Mound, Minnesota man is in critical condition after his vehicle was hit from behind by a driver who “took his eyes off of the road for a second.”
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Mark Heath of Mound was southbound on Highway 71 waiting to make a left turn onto 150th street. At the same time, Isaac Lustila, driving a Pontiac Grand Am, was southbound on Highway 71 and took his eyes off of the road for a second. Lustila told the State Patrol that when he looked up and saw Mr. Heath’s Hyundai Santa Fe he braked and tried to pass on the right. Lustila hit the Santa Fe in the rear passenger side, pushing it into the northbound traffic lane, where it was hit by a Dodge Ram truck driven by Judith Teske of Livingston, Texas.
This tragic accident highlights the need for drivers to be alert at all times. Distracted driving involves more than cell phone use. Looking away from the road “for a second” to change the radio station, adjust the temperature or look at a billboard also causes distracted driving accidents. The primary reason our law firm does not have billboard advertisements is because we don’t want to do anything that would cause an accident.
If you or a family member has been injured in an accident involving a distracted driver (even one distracted for “a second”), contact our Minnesota personal injury lawyers for a free consultation (1-888-377-8900 toll free). Two of our attorneys, Fred Pritzker and Eric Hageman, were named 2011 “Attorneys of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer, a respected legal publication, for a $2,560,000 verdict they won for a family in a bicycle accident wrongful death case involving a semi-trailer truck driver who didn’t see the bicyclist.
Head-On Collisions Cause Personal Injury on Minnesota Roads
The Minnesota State Patrol reported 6 accidents Sunday, three of them head on collisions:
- A head on collision on Highway 59 north of Slayton, MN resulted in injuries, according to the Minnesota State Patrol, but the conditions of the 4 people involved in the accident are not yet documented. Frank Kemper was driving a Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Highway 59 when he lost control and hit head on Warren Suckow of Slayton, MN and Bonita Suckow of Lismore, MN. Assisting were the Murray County Sheriff’s Office and Slayton Rescue & Ambulance and the Slayton Fire Department.
- Derek Naslund, 18, of Thief River Falls, MN failed to yield at the intersection of County Road 7 and 120 Avenue (Pennington County near TRF) and broadsided Kimberly Bitzer. On impact, Ms. Bitzer entered the ditch and rolled, sustaining personal injury.
- A head on collision in Bemidji, MN resulted in the injury of a Little Canada woman. The Beltrami County Sheriff Office responded. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a Pontiac Bonneville driven by Jason Norvold of Bemidji was southbound on Highway 71 approaching the Highway 2 ramp when a Dodge Calibre driven by Brina Ellison of Little Canada attempted to cross both lanes of Highway 71 and crashed head on with Norvold. There were also 2 passengers in Ellison’s vehicle. According to the State Patrol report, the passengers had “no apparent injury,” but our experience is that soft tissue injuries (whip lash, etc.) can surface a couple of weeks after an accident.
- A Honda Accord and Dodge Caravan were involved in a head on collision east of Bingham Lake, MN at the intersection of Highway 60 and County Road 2 (Cottonwood County). Delores Peters of Mountain Lake, MN, driving the Honda Accord, was traveling eastbound on Highway 60 when she hit the shoulder of the road, lost control of her car and struck head on the Dodge Caravan, which was driven by Alexander Sorensen of Comfrey, MN. Damone Sorensen, also of Comfrey, was a passenger in the Caravan. Injuries were serious enough to require immediate treatment.
- Cecil Boerner of Marshall, MN was driving southbound on Highway 4 north of St. James, MN, when he lost control and entered the northbound lanes, sideswiping Terril Smith of Comfrey, MN, who was driving a Pontiac Bonneville, and hit head on Maria Puentes of Sleepy Eye, MN, who was driving a GMC Sierra. Ms. Puentes suffered injury, according to the Minnesota State Patrol report. The Watonwan County Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident.
- Four people were transported to the hospital after an accident on Highway 212 near Dawson, MN. Dennis Schueller of Dawson was making a left turn in a Cadillac in a snow cloud when he rear ended a Dodge Charger driven by Steven Kerkvliet of Castlewood, South Dakota. Nicole Kerdvleit was a passenger in the Charger and Harriet Schueller was a passenger in the Cadillac.
The Minnesota State Patrol accident report is only preliminary. Contact our law firm for a free consultation regarding an independent investigation of your accident and information on how to protect your legal rights.
Attorneys Fred Pritzker, Elliot Olsen and Eric Hageman have been named Minnesota “Super Lawyers” for 2012 and past years and Brendan Flaherty has been named a “Rising Star” for three consecutive years, including 2012. Fred and Eric were also named “Attorneys of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer, a respected legal publication. Our Minnesota car accident lawyers represent accident victims and their families throughout Minnesota.
St. Paul Dog Bite Lawyer
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, and one in five dog bites results in injuries that require medical attention. Children are the most at risk age group.
Free Consultation with a dog bite lawyer >>>
If you have children in your care, it is vital to teach them how to behave around dogs to help prevent dog bites. On the CDC website, the following basic safety tips are outlined:
- Do not approach an unfamiliar dog.
- Do not run from a dog or scream.
- Do not move when approached by an unfamiliar dog.
- If knocked over by a dog, roll into a ball (cover your head with your arms) and lie still.
- Do not play with a dog without adult supervision.
- Immediately report stray dogs or dogs displaying unusual behavior to an adult.
- Do not look a dog directly in the eyes.
- Do not disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies.
- Do not pet a dog without allowing it to see and sniff you first.
- If bitten, immediately report the bite to an adult.
St. Paul Dog Bite: Dog Declared Dangerous Dog
The dog that attacked an 8-year-old boy last week has been declared dangerous by the city of St. Paul. Under St. Paul code, a dog is determined to be a dangerous animal if:
- Without provocation, the dog caused significant bodily harm to any person on public or private property
- Without provocation, the dog engaged in any attack on a person which would indicate danger to personal safety
- The dog exhibited unusually aggressive behavior, such as attacking another animal and causing serious injury or death
- The dog has bitten one or more persons on two or more occasions
- The dog has been found to be potentially dangerous and the owner has knowledge of the animal aggressively biting, attacking or endangering humans or domestic animals
- The dog has fresh wounds, scarring or is seen in a fight, or shows any other indication that would reasonably constitute evidence that the animal has been or will be used to fight another animal.
*Dog shall mean any male or female of any breed of domesticated dog.
Pritzker Olsen lawyers have won compensation in Minnesota dog bite cases. For a free consultation with a St. Paul dog bite lawyer about a dog bite lawsuit, please call 612-338-0202 or submit the firm’s online consultation form. It is free and we are not paid unless you win.
Hazelnut E. coli Outbreak Lawyer
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has posted a final update on the hazelnut E. coli outbreak that sickened people in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The April 7th CDC update reported the following E. coli outbreak highlights:
- As of April 1, 2011, eight persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli serotype O157:H7 were reported from Michigan (1), Minnesota (3), and Wisconsin (4).
- Laboratory testing conducted by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture on in-shell hazelnuts recovered from a patient’s home identified E. coli O157:H7 matching patient isolates by DNA analysis.
FREE CONSULTATION with an attorney > > >
About the Hazelnut E. coli Outbreak
Collaborative investigative efforts of local, state, and federal public health and regulatory agencies associated this outbreak with eating in-shell hazelnuts (also known as filberts). Most of the in-shell hazelnuts were purchased from bulk bins at retail food stores. Source tracing identified a common distributor for the hazelnuts consumed by ill persons: DeFranco & Sons in Los Angeles, California. Laboratory testing conducted by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture on in-shell hazelnuts, the California Department of Public Health on mixed nuts containing in-shell hazelnuts, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services on mixed nuts containing in-shell hazelnuts identified E. coli O157:H7 matching the outbreak strain by DNA analysis.
The wholesaler sold the nuts to four distributors who sold them to stores in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota. Also included in the recall are Sunripe Hazelnuts, Sunripe Large Hazelnuts in one-pound. packages, and Sunripe Mixed Nuts in two-pound and four-pound packages, all with a sell-by date of June 30, 2011.
Consumers should not eat any of the recalled hazelnuts, and restaurants and food service operators should not serve them. Consumers, retailers, and others who have any of the recalled hazelnuts should dispose of them in a closed plastic bag placed in a sealed trash can to prevent people or animals from eating them.
Hazelnut E. coli Lawsuit
Victims of this hazelnut E. coli outbreak should contact an E. coli lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, P.A. regarding the right to compensation from liable parties. Possible compensation may include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Other damages
Attorneys at Pritzker Olsen represent people sickened by nuts. They represented three of the people who died after consuming contaminated peanuts. For a free consultation about a hazelnut E. coli lawsuit, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.
Minnesota Nurse Malpractice Lawyer
Pritzker Olsen attorneys are investigating an outbreak of suspicious infections at a St. Cloud hospital. The pathogens have been identified as Ochrobactrum anthropi and Klebsiella oxytoca, which are quite rare in humans. To date, 23 patients have been infected with a bacterial infection. A hospital spokeswoman reported that a nurse may have contaminated medication vials while diverting pain medication for her own use. The hospital may bear liability in this type of case.
